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Friday, August 1, 2014

The irony being that the Green Party would be allowed to exist in Israel, but not in Palestine. A party full of tree hugging atheists would not last long in Hammas controlled zones.

What is happening in Gaza is not the fault of Israel. Were Hamas to surrender, lay down their weapons and identify all the tunnels they have been building for some sort of future attack on Israel, then Israel would stop.

I know Pope Francis has called on both sides to stop, and I support him in that. However, if only Israel were to stop, then the attacks from Gaza would continue, because Hamas do not fight honourably. As Muslims, they would see the humane ceasefire as a sign of weakness, and it would motivate them to keep the conflict going.

The Israeli Ambassador is welcome here in New Zealand, and I for one object strongly to anyone calling for him to be sent home.

6
comment(s):

the conservative
said...

Yet, another reason not to vote for those commie nutters, Lucia. I have a feeling this time around Israel is slowly winning the propaganda war; I don’t think people (except nutters) are buying into the ‘victim’ nonsense as they did in past conflicts. People know Hamas use children and families as human shields; they are beginning to see they are killing their own children. The only way forward now is for Israel to keep on going until they completely destroy Hamas. I have even heard that Israel has not ruled out reoccupying Gaza again.

"1. the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;

2. all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;

3. there must be serious prospects of success;

4. the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition" [CCC 2309].

I can't really see how Israels attacks on Gaza meet any of the criteria..especially, 2, 3 and 4. (and considering only 1 Israeli has died from a rocket attack in 2014 and there were no deaths in 2013...I'm not sure if the extreme force used by Israel can be justified looking from a catholic perspective.)

Thanks for the articles, I have read them and it does not change the fact that this aggression still does not seem to meet all of the criteria for a just war in the eyes of Catholic moral teaching. I do not know your religious background, but your page says in general bloggers on here follow Catholic moral teaching. I am in no way justifying the attack from Hamas, however the response by Israel appears to be producing greater evils and disorders than those that are being eliminated. Ultimately war breeds more hatred and only further prolongs and escalates violence.

I have no doubt that Hamas are also committing crimes against humanity, but I still not believe it justifies such a response. You may also want to consider that the tunnels being used by militants have likely been built to allow food, medicines and essential supplies to easily enter the area. The blockade makes it very difficult for the day to day live of these people and is causing unnecessary death and suffering of innocent people.

I will examine the four points that the Church teaches must be met to justify war.

1. the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;

(1 Israeli has died as a result of Hamas rocket attacks in the last 2 years before Israels latest bombing, whereas many are dying in Palestine from a lack of food, water, electricity and medical supplies due to the Israeli blockade - if you want to read UN documents verifying this I'm happy to send you links. It is hard to see how one death could mean that the damage is lasting, grave and certain to justify such a response)

2. all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;

(1 way could be to lift the blockade completely, allowing the Palestinian people to live with dignity)

3. there must be serious prospects of success;

(Killing innocent women and children, in the hope that you might also kill some terrorists generally only creates more hatred and hence creates more terrorists..hence, indiscriminate bombing has no chance of success)

4.the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition